A Shot at Love. Peggy Jaeger

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СКАЧАТЬ Kandy.”

      “I recognize you, Miss Laine. The women in my family are huge fans.” He gave her a small smile and took her hand.

      “Actually,” Kandy said, turning to her husband, “It’s Keane. This is my husband, Josh.”

      The men shook hands, and Ky was quick to note he was being sized up by them both.

      “Can I leave now?” Gemma asked from the bed.

      He turned his attention to her. She was still clad in the hospital gown she’d been given when her leg had been x-rayed.

      “I believe the doctor is signing the discharge papers right now.”

      “Hallelujah.” She threw her arms up in the air.

      “Have they found the man who did this?” Kandy asked Ky. “Do they know who he is?”

      “No, ma’am. But your sister gave a very extensive description of him and my partner is running his likeness through our database. As for why he did it, well, that part’s obvious.”

      He turned to Gemma.

      “He thought I had the pictures of what happened today,” she said, folding her hands into her lap. “He said he saw me leave your office and followed me home.”

      Ky nodded.

      “Is my sister in danger because of this?” Kandy moved to Gemma’s side and placed a hand on her shoulder. Gemma snaked her own hand up and covered it.

      Ky shot a quick glance at Josh. “I’m afraid so. They know who she is and where she lives. And now she’s seen one of them up close and can identify him. That makes her a liability.”

      “Jesus,” Kandy said, tightening her grip. “Josh—,” she looked over at her husband, a plea on her face. He nodded.

      “Agent Pappandreos, take a walk with me,” Josh said.

      The men left the room together and Ky heard Kandy say something in a soothing voice to her sister.

      When they were about halfway down the corridor, Josh stopped. “So who’d she see get taken out?”

      Without giving him too much information, Ky filled him in on the federal case he’d been working for the past three years.

      Josh whistled through his teeth.

      “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Ky said, “and now she’s in danger because of it.”

      “She needs to be kept out of sight until you find out who’s behind the killings,” Josh said.

      “Oh, I know who’s responsible,” Ky told him. “It’s a question of being able to prove it before anything else happens.”

      His phone pinged, and Ky looked down at the number written across the screen. “Excuse me. I’ve got to take this.”

      Ky walked away from Josh. “Pappandreos.”

      “I want a full report right now,” his boss, Special Agent in Charge Colin Tiege blared into the phone. Succinctly, Ky told him everything they knew of the attack, including the description Gemma had given. “Jon’s working it through the system now, see if we get a hit. But I know it’s connected to Ritandi. I feel it.”

      “I agree. This has his stamp all over it. Who else would take out a hit on Calafano?”

      “No one. It makes sense it was him. Calafano was set to do serious damage to Ritandi’s business with his testimony.”

      “And now you have no witness. No one who can detail the operation like Calafano could.”

      Ky remained silent. The anger and frustration filtering through the phone was identical to his own.

      “To top off a lousy day, I just got my ass chewed out by that little pissant from the AG’s office.”

      “Barly?”

      “Yeah. Davison ‘I’m-an-asshole’ Barly. Jerk had the nerve to accuse us of sabotaging the case, of leaking Calafano’s whereabouts to Ritandi. He’s calling for yours and Winters’s heads on a platter, so don’t be surprised if you get a call. Prick.”

      Department of Justice lawyer, Davison Barly, was, in Ky’s opinion, one of the most unpleasant, rude people he’d ever had the misfortune to work with. Over the year since he’d been assigned to the Ritandi task force as the attorney general’s assistant, the politically ambitious lawyer had tried to push the case forward at every turn, whether they had enough evidence or not. When Mario Calafano had been arrested, Barly was the only one who’d balked against making a deal with the bookkeeper, insisting instead on sending him to trial as a warning to Ritandi.

      Ultimately it had been the attorney general’s call to offer a deal and witness protection.

      None of which mattered now, though, with the bookkeeper’s execution.

      “What are your plans for the witness you do have?”

      Ky blew out a breath and swiped his free hand around his neck to massage the tightening muscles. “Her brother-in-law’s in private security. He can keep her under wraps.”

      “Not a good idea, Papps. I don’t want any more civilians involved in this.”

      “The guy owns his own business, boss. Protection is what he does.”

      “I don’t care. You and Winters take care of it. Put her in a secure place and have her guarded. What happened today shouldn’t have been possible. No one was supposed to know where Calafano was being kept. The fact someone did has me wondering if there’s a leak somewhere down the chain.”

      Ky rubbed his eyes with the pads of his fingers. “Yeah, I was wondering that as well. Okay. We’ll take care of it.”

      He ended the call and went back to a waiting Josh.

      “From the look on your face,” Josh said, “I can tell that wasn’t pleasant.”

      Ky shook his head. “My superior.” He slid the phone back into his pants pocket. “He wants your sister-in-law secured.”

      Josh nodded. “I can do that.”

      “No. He doesn’t want any non-agency people involved in this. We’ll be providing her with protection and some place safe to stay until this is resolved. She can’t go back to her condo now, since they know where she lives.”

      Josh blew out a breath. “Good luck getting her to agree. Gemma’s not known for taking orders well. You’ll have a fight on your hands for sure.”

      “Can’t be helped, Mr. Keane. I’ve got my orders.”

      “It’s Josh, and I know. I just want you to be prepared for what she’s going to do when you tell her.”

      * * *

      “No frigging way!” СКАЧАТЬ